My Vanguard
by EagleTsubasa
Summary: Ignores Legion Mate-hen. One year ago, Sendō Aichi vanished from the face of the Earth, leaving Kai Toshiki to search for him. The wielders of PSY Qualia and Ultra-Rare have gone to lead Cray in the war against Void. Will Kai reach Cray, and with Majesty Lord Blaster missing, why is Aichi behaving so strangely? AichixKourin. Blood. No Cardfights. Real fights.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Alone

_Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard._

_VANGUARD_

How long had it been since that day? The day when… he left. He simply got up and left me and I wasn't sure that I could ever forgive him for it… and yet I still searched for him. I'm still not sure why…

Why? Why did I search? Aichi abandoned me! He said we were friends! That he was going to help me! To support me! Why did he lie?! Why did he leave me?! I vowed to get back on the right path and he vowed to help me!

Yet… it didn't happen… He left over a year ago with absolutely no explanation… Where did he go? I made a vow to find that out… To find out why he abandoned his friends so easily… Why he abandoned me…

I still held one hope within my very soul. That Aichi had left for some good reason. That he had no other choice. Yet, some fear within me keeps rising every time I think about it. What if he was just sick of us? What if I was being too dependent on him and he got sick of it? What if we were never friends at all?

… What if he hated me…?

Ugh…! What happened to me and when did I get so desperate and whiny?!

My name is Kai Toshiki. My goal: to search for my friend. It doesn't matter how long it takes me. I need to find him. I need to ask him why he took his deck and left so long ago. Why he didn't ask for help if he needed it. Why he didn't even tell me that he was leaving.

I took a look at my surroundings and pulled my coat and scarf closer around me. Why was I even up in these mountains? Would Aichi really be up here? I doubted it. Yet… I would search the Earth three times over if that's what it took to find him. I'd go to the edges of the universe, because that was what my precious friend meant to me.

It didn't matter. Once I got down from here, I would spend the night in the little town at the base of the mountain. It was a nice little place. I'd been there once before when I was up this mountain. I think this was the area where I fought that kid with the white hair that used to be on one of Ren's teams. The Foo Fighters. What was his name again…? Oh, well… His name doesn't matter…

It took me a few hours of walking through a blizzard to get to the inn in the town. I sighed and brushed some snow off me before walking inside, gladly seeking the warmth that was being promised to me. I checked in, went to my room, dropped my bag and flopped down on my warm, soft bed, falling asleep the very moment that my head touched the pillow.

I had that dream again.

It was dark. Pitch black. I sat up slightly, propping myself up on my elbow, and looked around myself. Sitting up further, I became horribly aware of another presence right behind me. Without standing, I turned to face them.

He stood there, towering over me, wearing a long, white coat, black trousers and black trainers, all stained with red. He face and hair were streaked with crimson and even more of the liquid dripped slowly from the long sword that he held tightly in one hand. The ground rippled with every drop and the drip echoed in the space around us.

I found myself asking the same question that I did every time I had this dream, mainly because I just couldn't comprehend the answer that I was always given. As the man stared at me with those cold, emotionless eyes, my voice shook as I asked the question.

"… Who are you…?"

"You know well enough, Kai-kun," was the blunt answer. I flinched at the coldness in his voice. It couldn't be him, but yet it could. The thought that it could was why I continued to ask.

"Why do you keep coming here like this?! Where are you?!" I pressed frantically.

"You know well enough, Kai-kun."

"Stop repeating yourself! I want to find you and I don't know where you are! Tell me! Please!" I half begged him.

"I can't, Kai-kun. You have to find it out for yourself."

"You promised!" I blurted. He seemed to hesitate, as he always did, his eyes narrowing slightly – almost invisible unless you looked hard. It only served to make him look sterner. "You promised to help me! If you meant that, then why don't you help me?!"

"… There are things that one must do on their own, Kai-kun. Think of this as a test. How far have you come on your own and, if you find me, can you help?" he told me after getting over his slight hesitation.

"Help?" I asked. "Why do you need help?"

"I don't need it. You'll see if you get here. Until then, Kai-kun…"

My eyes widened. He was fading quickly. I jumped to my feet and reached for him and quickly as I possibly could… Yet… I slipped right through him, falling to the wet floor and, for the first time, the water from the floor began to seep into my clothes. This had never happened before. Suddenly, the floor beneath me lost its solidity and I plunged into the icy depths below me…

… Only to wake with a start.

I was covered with a cold sweat and my head was banging. I attempted to sit up to reach for my phone in my bag so I could check the time, but a wave of dizziness struck me and I was forced to lie back down. I grunted in annoyance and made the move to lean over and search through my bag rather than sit up. It worked and I soon checked the time.

_5:00AM…_

… I was not amused…

I poked around more in my bag. I remembered that I'd taken a thermometer with me. I eventually pulled it out and shakily lay back down in bed, removing the electronic thermometer from its box, turning it on and placing it in my mouth. I heard it beep after a few seconds and removed it.

38.9°C…

I wasn't getting out of that bed anytime soon. Not even bothering to put the thermometer away, I fell into a deep, uncomfortable slumber, plagued by dreams of my past… The past that I was always trying to run from… To forget…

… To sleep, perchance to dream… Aye, there's the rub... For in that sleep, what dreams may come…?

_Meanwhile…_

I sat up, rubbing my head slightly as I tried to remember exactly what had just happened. It was that dream again. Why was Kai always there? I didn't have time for that! There was a war going on! I couldn't show any kind of weakness!

Sorry. My name is Sendō Aichi. I'm originally from a planet called Earth, but at that moment, I wasn't on Earth anymore. I hadn't been on Earth for a year now. This place was not Earth. This was a planet known as Cray.

Why was I on Cray, you ask? Well –

_BOOM!_

I paused at the loud noise before quickly jumping out of bed and beginning to pull my clothes on. The door to my room was flung open a few minutes later and a rather panicked Emerald Witch, LaLa ran in at full speed just as I was pulling on my white and blue trench coat.

"My Vanguard!" she cried out as the door hit the wall with a loud bang. "The enemy is attacking! Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark are already outside fighting!"

"Very well, LaLa. Take the other weaker units and take refuge elsewhere," I told her calmly as I picked up my large sword.

"Yes, sir! Right away!" she saluted. "Good luck!" With that, she was gone.

I rested my sword on my right shoulder and walked out the door. Another explosion rocked the building and I broke into a run along the long red carpet, making my way through the network of well-lit, white-walled halls and passing by the many wooden doors on my way to the large main foyer with the two large doors that led outside.

To be quite honest, the base was larger than was strictly necessary so it took about 5 minutes or more to get to the door. I called to the several guards on either side (all sorts of different units from different Clans) and each one of them grabbed a length of rope that was attached to the large, round, iron door handles and heaved.

A crack opened up between the two heavy doors and light streamed in. As it opened further, I watched as Blaster Blade Seeker—a tall, humanoid unit with green eyes and white and blue armour that was adorned here and there with red gems and covered with glowing lines of energy—and Blaster Dark— a unit that was identical to Blaster Blade in appearance, the only differences being his black armour came and red cape—into view in front of me. They turned as they heard the creaking of the giant doors.

"You kept us waiting, Aichi-kun!" Blaster Dark yelled over the sound of another explosion.

"Don't treat our Vanguard with such disrespect, Dark!" Blade berated him.

"Ah, shut up, Blade! Stop trying to act like you own everything!"

"What made you think I thought like that?!"

"Guys! Guys! Don't argue!" I laughed nervously. "We have bigger things to worry about!"

You might be wondering about the attitudes of Blade and Dark. You see, back when I had PSY Qualia, we didn't know each other very well and, better yet, we never really spoke. When we finally _did_ speak on just a few occasions, we ended up behaving rather formally. Now that I've gotten to know them better, it's like they're completely different people… Wait… No… Um… Units…? Yes. Units.

Blade sighed. "Our Vanguard is right," he agreed.

"Ooh! Sucking up to, _'our Vanguard,'_ now, are we?"

"You don't need to be so formal, guys -" I was cut off as they continued to argue.

"Are you questioning the might of our beloved Vanguard?!"

"Beloved?!" I half squeaked. Didn't expect that one…

"Stop being such a pet!"

"Pet?! I'll have you know that I am a trained and accomplished warrior!"

"Yeah, right! Trained and accomplished?! Does anyone hear this guy?!"

I sighed in frustration as I heard footsteps coming towards me. Turning, I was greeted with a familiar face who kneeled down in front of me, his large sword in front of him, its tip buried into the ground and both hands on the hilt of the giant blade, his head bowed in respect. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Was something happening to the troops…?

"Nehalem. What's wrong?"

"My Vanguard. The enemy is attacking in large waves. We have no idea how they found us. The 6th, 7th and 12th companies have all been taken out." His voice and expression were serious.

I cursed inwardly and stared at the ground. "So many units…" I was silent for a few seconds before looking back at Nehalem. I could feel that Blade and Dark were listening intently, especially because their arguing had ceased. "Where are they?"

"Coming through the valley, sir."

This time, I cursed outwardly. The units surrounding me looked at me like I had gone mad. I suppose that the amount of times that I've ever cursed can be counted on one hand, but I couldn't hold it in this time. The army was too close…

"Ready more troops. We can't wait a moment longer. Where's Alfred?"

"The battlefield, sir."

"Was he the one who authorised the troops to move out?"

"Yes, sir."

"Blade. Dark. We haven't got another moment to waste," I stated, turning to them. It was serious, now. Both sensed the situation and saluted.

"Sir, yes sir!"

_Meanwhile…_

A few hours later, I opened my eyes slowly. The sunlight blinded me and I squeezed my eyes closed, cursing myself for not shutting the curtains the night before. My head felt better, though, so I supposed that it was OK to sit up.

The wave of dizziness didn't hit me when I moved. Lifting my hand up to my forehead, I noticed that my fever had definitely gone down in the few hours that I'd been asleep, but it wasn't gone yet and would probably come back. I decided that now was the best time to appease my newfound appetite and got up to go to the small bar downstairs. They sold good pea soup the last time I was there.

Getting up and walking downstairs, I sat down at the counter in the small restaurant downstairs. A young man around my age noticed me and walked over with a smile on his face. I didn't bother to return it, nor did I even really register it until he was right in front of me and speaking to me. Even then, I still don't really remember what he looked like.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked me.

"Can I have some pea soup, please?" I asked, tiredly rubbing my eyes.

"Certainly, sir," he responded with his sickening grin—the only part of him that I can really remember anymore—before walking away.

The next 10 minutes or so that I sat there for quickly became a blur, my tired mind registering little more than the thoughts that I allowed it to as I took out my deck, my eyes falling on Dragonic Overlord as I did so. Dragonic Overlord... I used that card when I fought Aichi...

I remembered every moment of that fight and every moment of it was one that I desperately wanted to forget. Why didn't I forget? Was it because I accepted Link Joker? I made so many mistakes that day... The biggest of all was deciding that I needed a power that wasn't my own to fight Aichi with...

I admit it... I was jealous and I was a hypocrite. Aichi was becoming too powerful for me... It wasn't just Aichi, though... It was Ren... My best friend was still more powerful that me even without the power of PSY Qualia. I felt as though I was alone. As if the power that I'd worked so hard to obtain wasn't enough anymore. What were Ren and Aichi doing that I wasn't? I still need Aichi to tell me that!

"Here's your soup, sir! Would you like anything else?"

The voice of the man behind the counter snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up as he placed the soup and a spoon in front of me with a grin. The bowl and spoon clinked against the mahogany counter and the smell hit me, reminding me of my own hunger.

"Uh... No... No, thank you..." I responded dumbly as he nodded.

"Very well, sir." With that, he walked away and began to chat to a female colleague.

I shovelled a spoonful of the great-tasting soup into my mouth, sliding my deck into its case as I did so. I stopped for a few seconds to wonder what the others were doing back at home. I had graduated, as had Miwa. The rest were still going through their last year of school and Miwa had gone to university. Still, my graduation allowed me to roam the world to look for Aichi. I had lost a few months of education, only returning for my final exams, but I was now able to search freely. Miwa had stayed at home, having his own obligations to his family to think about first. I understood that.

I hadn't seen Ren in a while. Not since I had graduated. Since he had graduated, I just presumed that he'd moved to go to university. Come to think of it, Leon and Chris, who would both ring every so often, were unusually quiet as well. In fact, I hadn't heard from all three of them in a year and, whenever I had tried to call one of them to see what the problem was, their phone was turned off.

I narrowed my eyes as a thought finally hit me. They all had something in common. They all had PSY Qualia. Maybe they had all got up and left, too. If they did, something big was going on. It still brought be no closer to my goal, though. I still wonder how it took me so long to see it.

I heard my phone buzz and pulled it out of my trouser pocket. Miwa's name came up on the caller ID. I wasn't surprised. He called me every so often to see how I was doing. As much as I really hated to admit it, I liked hearing his voice every now and then. I pressed the 'receive call' button and lifted the phone up to my ear.

"Hey, Kai! How's the search going? Found anything yet?" Miwa's cheerful voice asked me.

"Not yet. I think that Ren, Leon and Chris might be in on this, but it still doesn't help me..." I responded sadly.

"Hm..." Miwa mused. "I suppose that they've been unusually silent for quite a while... So... Where are you?"

"I'm at the bottom of a mountain in an inn," I informed him, reluctant to give him any information lest he attempt to show up or give me his disastrous brand of what he called "help."

Miwa chuckled at my lack of responsiveness. "Same old Kai..."

"So, how is everyone?" I inquired.

"Well, Naoki is really improving. Shingo and Kamui are helping him. He's still failing, though..." he laughed as I shovelled another spoonful of soup into my mouth. "Misaki-san's still taking care of the shop with Shin-san and Kamui's plucked up some courage and he's waiting for Aichi's approval to go out with Emi. The moment he gets it, he's gonna try to ask her out!" Miwa laughed.

"I don't think he actually needs it," I stated, pushing my food around on my plate, watching as the thick soup slid past my spoon.

"I know. Aichi probably wouldn't care," Miwa admitted, his voice sounding sheepish from the other end of the phone.

"What about the shop?" I asked, trying to turn the subject away from Aichi.

"It's the same as always. Gouki and his crew often come around for a match or two. That Kyou guy keeps coming around every so often to challenge you, but he's always going away disappointed," Miwa chuckled.

"Huh…" I mumbled, something finally dawning on me. "That's what his name was…"

"… Um… What…?" Miwa asked after a few seconds of silence. He obviously hadn't heard me.

"Never mind. It isn't important," I told him.

There was a moment of silence. "… Uh-huh…" Miwa responded slowly, almost as if he didn't believe me. I heard a sigh coming from the other end of the phone. "I'm gonna have to go, Kai. I have classes soon."

I found myself nodding to thin air, continuing to push my soup around on my plate. "That's alright," I told him, my response perhaps rather too blunt.

"I'll talk to you later," Miwa stated, his voice cheerful. Perhaps rather _too_ cheerful. "Bye!"

"Hn," I grunted abruptly, listening to a click sounding from my phone.

Pulling it away from my ear, I put it back in my pocket, the realisation sinking in. Aichi wasn't here. Miwa wasn't here. I was completely and utterly alone. Why was that bothering me so much? I'd never been bothered by it before.

Rapidly shaking my head to clear it of those unneeded thoughts, I took another spoonful of the soup, even though I barely registered its flavour. The thoughts wouldn't cease. I was more alone than ever…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Stop

_Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard._

_VANGUARD_

_(Kai's P.O.V.)_

I flopped down on the bed in my room, my stomach full and my eyelids heavy. I had overexerted myself in my weakened state. Reaching up, I let the back of my hand fall against my forehead, feeling the reducing temperature. At least something good was happening.

I sighed and rolled onto my side, turning my back to the uncovered window to block out the light, too tired to care about closing the curtains, my mind clouded by thoughts of the past that I struggled to supress. Thoughts of all that I had lost and the precious little that I had gained. I let out a sigh and allowed my eyes to slide shut, drifting off into a restless sleep.

_(Aichi's P.O.V.)_

The sound of hooves and wingbeats echoed through the air, frequently obscured by the sounds of war and explosions deeper in the valley as we made our way through it. I gripped the reins of the Lion Mane Stallion that I was riding, its fiery orange mane flying up from its blue, partially-armoured body as it breathed in heavy pants beneath me. We had already covered quite a distance and our mounts were beginning to feel the effects of the difficult trek into the valley below the cliff that our base stood on.

I patted the side of the unit's long, muscular neck. "Good job, Lion. You're doing well. Just a little farther and you can rest," I assured him.

Lion seemed to heave a sigh of relief, continuing to power forward, a sheen of sweat coating his damp coat and mane as he galloped along. Another explosion, much louder than the others, rocked the ground, causing Lion to stumble slightly, but he quickly righted himself and charged onwards.

I sank my teeth into my lower lip, ignoring the metallic taste that spread through my mouth as a result. That didn't sound good… Glancing downwards, I noticed the apprehension writing across Lion's face as his head and ears drooped, almost as if he was afraid to go forwards.

Suddenly, a loud, mechanical-sounding bark rang out over the din of battle and the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps heralded a new arrival as a blue, mechanical dog with large shoulder spikes lined with yellow and a line of red along part of its back began to run alongside me, its rider turning to face me, his red hair and black cloak flying out behind him as his crimson eyes locked with mine.

"That didn't sound good!" he called, struggling to be heard over the noise as he gripped Gururubau's shoulder spikes.

I nodded. "That was the biggest one so far, Ren-san!" I responded, referring to the explosion that had rocked the ground only moments prior.

"That couldn't have been one of ours! Our troops wouldn't be so callous as to let their own get caught in the crossfire!" Ren remarked.

My eyes narrowed and I turned to focus on the rocky path ahead, completely devoid of all plant life, the sky hidden by the steep inclines that rose up on either side of us. We rounded a corner passing by a dead tree, rotting and crumbling away where it stood as we came upon the battle itself.

Lion and Gururubau slid to a halt as we came upon the scene, the scent of dirt, smoke, gunpowder and blood intermingling in the air to create a horrific concoction that we knew all too well. It was the scent of war. I gritted my teeth as the smell assaulted me, my stomach doing flips as I slid down from my mount, Ren doing the same as the troops behind us slowed to a stop.

Ren and I stared down the hill at the battle below us. I glanced at Ren to see his eyes darting about, searching for something amongst the warring units. "Isn't Alfred supposed to be down there?!"

I nodded. "That's what Nehalem said!"

"I can't see him!" Ren responded, craning his neck to see further over the warring units, his vision frequently becoming blocked by the larger Grade 3 units.

I shook my head and sighed. "There's no point in looking for him! We won't be able to see him from here! He'll show up eventually! Either way, we need to join in the fight! We can't wait for Leon to get here!"

Ren turned to me, his crimson eyes locking with my own, a slight smirk crossing his features. "Lead the way, Lead Vanguard!"

With a nod, I turned towards the battle once more, removing the large blade from its scabbard on my back, marvelling at how light the white and blue sword with a red jewel embedded in the hilt—an exact copy of Blaster Blade's—was when I raised it, the incredibly strong, lightweight metal glinting in the sunlight that managed to slowly creep over the ridges high above us and into the valley.

At this signal, I could hear the troops begin to ready themselves as Blaster Blade joined me at my side, Blaster Dark doing the same for Ren, all of whom readied themselves for the sprint down the hill. I took a sharp intake of breath and let my sword fall, the tip pointing down at the battle below.

"CHARGE!" I ordered, immediately taking off down the hill.

All at once, hundreds of deafening battle cries and roars rose up from behind me, drowning out the sound of battle below us as hundreds of thundering footsteps and wingbeats followed, the troops no doubt kicking up a cloud of dust as we forced our way down the hill, being careful not to trip on any of the rocks that jutted out of the uneven ground or slip on the dust that slid out from beneath our feet as we charged onwards.

I felt a rush of adrenaline run through me as we powered into mass of units, pushing the enemy back and absorbing our own injured units into the throng of units who were joining the battle. Within seconds, I found my own blade connecting with the blade of another unit, the vibrations from the clash travelling up my arm as I began to push the opponent backwards slightly, struggling to maintain dominance.

I took in my opponent's appearance. Black hair fell down over pale skin, his fringe falling into his crimson eyes slightly. A long, blood red kimono from which his right arm and part of his chest was free, tied together with a black obi with red trimming held his outfit together, covering his torn, black, formfitting undershirt. He wore black boots that covered most of his legs, disappearing into his kimono and a spare katana and an empty sheath were tucked safely into his obi, the unsheathed blade held in his hands. Two black rings with red outlines interlocked with each other around both of his wrists. With a hiss, he bore his sharp fangs at me.

My eyes widened as I immediately recognised the unit in front of me. At one point, he had been one of our units. A comrade. Now, he was nothing more than a pawn being used for _his_ nefarious deeds. The rings around his wrists were proof of that. Proof of the force that was taking him over.

… _Link Joker…_

I knew the unit well. He was a good friend. Stil Vampir, despite his frightening appearance, was a good man. Now, he didn't remember me at all. I narrowed by eyes slightly, the thought stinging me more than I thought it would have. Nevertheless, I had a more pressing matter at hand.

Stil jumped back, seeing that we had been in a stalemate. He lunged again, his sword colliding with mine at a high speed, clanging as our blades made contact over and over again, forcing me backwards as I fought to keep up with the rapid attacks.

As another strike came my way, I saw an opening and, using the flat of my sword, I deflected his sword before charging forwards with a lunge, seeing no other alternative in the heat of battle than to fight with the intent to kill, as much as it pained me. I had no access to the method of releasing him from the power of Link Joker at that moment and my only options were to wait for an opening that may not come and put myself and others at risk as a result or dispatch Stil—something that he no doubt would have wanted if it spared his comrades grief and suffering, no matter how much it pained his executor to do it.

However, just as the tip of my sword neared Stil, he jumped backwards, doing a backflip in mid-air and landing just out of range of my sword. Before I could react, he had charged forwards and his sword had become embedded in my left shoulder, the tip scraping against the bones beneath my skin. With a gasp of shock and pain, I reeled away, focusing on Stil instead of the blood that flowed from my shoulder.

My eyes fixed on Stil and I noted that his eyes were trained on my shoulder as he hungrily stared as the blood that oozed from my new wound. I raised my sword, wincing in pain as I did so. I watched as my sudden movement snapped Stil out of the trance that he had been in and he lunged at me. I brought my sword up defensively, wincing again as a shock ran up my arm from the collision.

Our blades were locked once more, but with the deep wound in my shoulder, Stil was gaining the upper hand this time as I struggled to push his sword back, pain flaring in my shoulder as beads of sweat raced down my face, coating my hair and clothes, making them cling to my body.

However, it was at this point that I saw my chance. Bracing myself for the pain that I would feel upon performing my next task, I removed my left hand from my sword and, with a pained grunt, lunged, aiming for the interlocking rings around his right wrist. My hand caught them at the point where they crossed over and, with a rough tug, the rings disintegrated and my hand grasped at thin air.

I immediately placed my hand back on the hilt of my blade as Stil Vampir, using his strength as a Vampire to push me backwards. It was too late, however, as my feet slid on the dusty ground as I was forced backwards. I slipped and landed on my back, my hands tightening around my swords as I fell to ensure that it didn't slip from my hand.

I grunted as my back met the hard ground, the pain in my shoulder moving down my arm and across my back as I struggled to maintain the grip that I had on my sword. Attempting to ignore the many rocks that jabbed and scraped at my back, I focused on Stil Vampire, immediately seeing that the Reversed unit was preparing to attack once more. Unsheathing his second blade, he brought both blades down on me. As disadvantaged as I was, I managed to keep my sword held up against the crushing power of the undead being above me.

Pushing back, I tried to keep his blades from reaching me, neglecting to notice that he was trying to bring his fangs closer to my neck, the scent of my blood slowly driving him mad with hunger. Eventually catching sight of the glinting fangs, I strained to push him back and get his target—my throat—out of his range.

A chilling, familiar voice reached my ears, the Romanian accent making it distinctive and the proximity to my face allowing me to hear the quiet words over the roars of the other soldiers and the sounds of weapons firing and clashing with each other.

"… You could be immortal…" I heard him say, his voice quiet and raspy. "… You could have the ultimate power on top of that… You just need to give in…" the Vampire smirked, his fangs protruding from his black lips.

I unconsciously shuddered, my mind focused on trying to push my friend backwards as he continued to push me back, his fangs now mere inches from my neck. I tried to stretch my neck, straining to get it out of the way as I felt his sharp fangs scrape against the right side of my throat. Then, I felt a sting as the Reversed unit's fangs penetrated my skin, coming dangerously close to my artery which I could feel throbbing against the foreign objects that brushed up against it as Stil began to take long drafts of my blood.

I instinctively struggled, but within the first 20 seconds or so, I began to lose the strength in my limbs and my head started to swim. My hands slid away from my sword and Stil dropped his own blades, leaning over me and sitting me up slightly, supporting my in his arms as he attempted to get better access to my throat, removing his fangs from my neck as he did so. Tilting my head back, he tucked in again. I winced as his fangs broke my skin again and my vision began to blur even further.

Then, I noticed it. His hand was gripping my shoulder tightly, heavily bruising my skin, no doubt, and causing my wound to bleed further, the pain reaching its climax as I struggled to maintain consciousness. However, what I was focused on were the two rings that interlocked around his wrist. I took a look at Stil's face. He wasn't paying attention to me, his eyes closed as he continued to drink.

I slowly raised my hand, trying to keep it steady as my hand neared the rings around his wrist. Before he could react, I grabbed the rings and yanked them, causing them to disintegrate at my touch. Stil quickly pulled back and I was dropped, hitting the ground with a thud. Summoning strength, I quickly sat up and shuffled backwards, out of the Vampire's way as a reaction began to occur.

Stil let out a pain-filled scream as a red and black haze rose from the unit's body, forcing him down onto his hands and knees. The rings that had bound the power of Link Joker to his body were gone and he was beginning to revert to normal.

Shifting my body, I pulled myself to my hands and knees, attempting to pull myself to my feet, cursing as my vision blurred again. Nevertheless, I shakily pulled myself to my feet, desperately trying to ignore the overwhelming feeling of nausea that washed over me. I struggled to watch through a cloudy fog as Stil's form changed, the red and black colours draining out of him, becoming replaced by different shades of pinks, purples and blues.

Stil remained silent and motionless as he no doubt attempted to regain his bearings, overcoming the memory loss. I swallowed heavily as I watched him, fighting against the nausea that claimed me as I took a shaky step forwards, my hand reaching up to clamp itself over the wounds on my neck which, if the damp feeling that covered my hand was telling me anything, were still dripping with blood.

"… Stil…?" I called hesitantly, almost afraid that Link Joker's influence had not worn off.

Stil's head darted upwards, his sensitive Vampire ears picking my quiet voice over the sounds of war that surrounded us. Recovering quickly, he was on his feet in seconds, his eyes trained on me. I took another step forwards, a relieved smile making its way onto my face, as I tried to get closer to Stil, my vision becoming blocked by a white fog that seemed to grow and grow.

I let my hand fall away from my throat as I lost the strength in it, vaguely seeing Stil tense as I stumbled, my vision obscured and my limbs weak. I wasn't quite sure what happened next as my vision became completely white, blocking out the world around me. However, the next thing I knew, I was in Stil's arms as he darted through the crowd around us, my sheath having been removed from my back and was now slung over his shoulder, my sword inside.

I vaguely noted that Stil was most likely looking for a Healing unit—a unit that possessed a Heal Trigger and a powerful healing magic who usually stayed outside the battle. He didn't appear to be having much luck.

I focused on his face through my clearing vision, looking for any hint of Reverse that may have been left before I tried to use my voice again. "… Stil…?"

Stil glanced down at me and I offered him a small, hopeful smile which Stil returned, albeit not without a hint of guilt as his eyes fell on the wounds on my throat. Nevertheless, he spoke to me as he looked away and scanned the crowd. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice having lost any of the malicious tones that it had contained mere moments prior.

"… I've been better…" I admitted weakly. "… I'll be fine, though…"

Stil emitted a grunt as his eyes fixed on the area where the troops and I had entered the battle. Beside a boulder to the left of the bottom of the hill, several Healers hid in safety, making sure that they were ready for whoever they needed to treat.

"You'll have to sit this one out," Stil told me, his hand tightening around my shoulder where he already had a firm grip. He loosened his grip as I groaned in pain, my already tortured shoulder oozing more blood. "Sorry…" he muttered sombrely, averting his gaze from me.

"… It's alright…" I assured him, my voice croaking as I forced the words past gritted teeth. "… I'll act as the Relay…" I finally decided, letting my body go limp in his arms as I proceeded to activate my PSY Qualia.

With a sigh, I allowed my PSY Qualia to take control as I felt myself lose all control of my limbs and my vision faded to black as I focused on the connection that my PSY Qualia was opening. As my consciousness faded, I heard myself begin to involuntarily mutter under my breath as my PSY Qualia overloaded my senses in order to gather all of the information that it needed, sending it to the individual at the other side of the link.

I couldn't see, hear or feel. All of my senses had melted away, as did my awareness of all that was going on, my mind becoming blank as coordinates and statistics continued to roll off my tongue. Everything was gone. I was in darkness. Nothing mattered anymore. There was no war. No pain. No suffering. Everything had completely…

… _Stopped…_

_(Kai's P.O.V.)_

"… Kai Toshiki…" a voice whispered, cutting through the darkness that surrounded me like a hot knife through butter.

Grunting in annoyance, I attempted to roll over and go back to sleep… Nothing happened… In fact… where was the bed? Prying my eyes open, I expected to be assaulted by light only to be met with sheer darkness. My eyes flew wide open and I quickly took a look around, still unable to see nothing in the darkness. For a moment, I seriously contemplated whether I had gone blind. However, upon raising my hand and finding that I could see it clearly despite the darkness, I dismissed that thought and focused on the real problem…

… Where was I…?

"… Kai Toshiki…" the voice whispered again, growing louder in volume as it did so.

That voice was familiar. Was that a child? A young boy? I had definitely heard that voice before… But, where…? Where had I heard it…? I swallowed, taking another look around myself, my eyes narrowing as I peered through the darkness, attempting to see the person who was speaking to me.

"… Kai Toshiki…!" the voice said again, sounding closer and louder than ever, slowly becoming something less than a whisper and more of a cry.

"Who's there?!" I demanded, spurred into responding to the voice.

"… Can you hear me…?!" the voice asked, gaining more power and volume.

"I can!" I replied. "Who are you?!"

"… It's me…!" the voice called back after a few seconds before growing in volume again. "It's me!" it called again, this time sounding as though the speaker was right behind me.

I spun around, coming face-to-face with the speaker who had just seemingly floated into existence—nothing more than a ghostly, blurry image that flickered in and out of existence like static. However, through the static, I could make out a young boy with white hair, yellow eyes and white clothing, the exact style of which was impossible for me to see. Nevertheless, I finally matched the voice to an individual and, in my shock, I tried to step backwards, only to find out that, in my current position as I floated in the dark abyss, I could do nothing of the sort. My eyes remained fixed on the image before me.

… Takuto… Tatsunagi Takuto…!

"… No… It's impossible… You're dead…!" I found myself crying out in alarm.

Takuto appeared to sigh, partially in sadness and partially in annoyance. "I didn't die. I was merely pulled through the portal when Void was defeated." He shook his head. "Never mind. I need you to listen to me."

Taken aback by the urgency in his voice, I looked straight into his flickering eyes and nodded. He let out another sigh as if what he was saying was paining him. Despite my own inability to move, Takuto had no issues with taking a few steps towards me. He reached up and placed an unstable hand on his chest, resting it over his heart.

"… I need your help…" Takuto whispered, closing his eyes. After a few seconds, he finally opened them again, his eyes focused on the ground. "... Me... The units… Cray, itself… Ultra-Rare... Ren… Leon… Chris… Aichi…" He suddenly focused straight on me. "We all need your help!"


End file.
